Ship blocking Suez Canal moved ‘80%' in right direction

CAIRO (AFP) -The massive container ship blocking the Suez Canal for almost a week has been turned 80 percent in the right direction, officials said Monday, raising hopes the vital trade route could soon be clear.

But its owner said that while the giant ship “has turned”, it was still not yet afloat.

The MV Ever Given, longer than four football fields, has been wedged diagonally across the canal since Tuesday, strangling world supply chains and costing the global economy billions.

Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chief Osama Rabie said Monday that rescue efforts with tugs had succeeded in shifting the front and back of the ship.

“The position of the ship has been reorientated 80 percent in the right direction,” Rabie in a statement.

“The stern... moved to 102 metres (335 feet) from the shore,” compared to its position four metres from the shore previously.

Efforts to refloat it will resume on the next high tide.

The SCA statement said that the refloating process “will resume when water flow increases again from 11:30 local time... in order to completely refloat the vessel, so as to reposition it in the middle of the waterway.”